September 10, 2013

McConnell a "no" on Syria strike

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Tuesday announced his intention to vote against a resolution to authorize a military strike against Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons against its people.

"So I will be voting against this resolution," McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor. "A vital national security risk is clearly not at play, there are just too many unanswered questions about the long-term strategy in Syria, including the fact that this proposal is utterly detatched from a wider strategy to end the civil war there, and on the specific question of deterring the use of chemical weapons, the president's proposal appears to be based on a contradiction. Either we will strike targets that threaten the stability of the regime - something the president says he does not intend to do - or we will execute a strike so narrow as to be a mere demonstration."

McConnell announced his decsion hours before President Barack Obama was scheduled to separately meet with Democratic and Republican senators at their weekly luncheons to drum up support for congressional authorization for a limited military strike against Bashar Assad's regime.

In a long morning floor speech, McConnell criticized Obama's Syria and Middle East policy as ineffective and aimless.

"And it's time he face up to something else as well: international order is not maintained by some global police force; which only exists in a liberal fantasy," McConnell said. "International order is maintained - its backbone - is American military might."